Rights for catering in case of a delay or cancellation

Nowadays it often happens that a flight gets delayed or cancelled. What kind of rights do we have in a situation like this? We will explain this in detail below. What shall I do if my flight is severely delayed or gets cancelled? In case of a delay of more than 5 hours or cancellation you can get a full refund of your ticket, or you can ask to be rebooked on another flight. However in this case you often get trapped at the airport for hours and unless you know your rights, this can mean extra cost for you.

Catering

In a case of delay, cancellation or rebooking, during the waiting time the passengers are entitled to free food and beverages. These costs have to be covered by the airline. You have to get in contact with the airline in order for them to be able to make the right measures. If you don’t have the option for this at the given airport, than make sure that you keep all the receipts of your food and drinks. Do bear in mind that the amount of consumed food and beverages needs to be in proportion with the length of the waiting time.

Communication

If the flight is severely delayed or gets cancelled, the airline needs to provide for the passengers 2 free phone calls and the opportunity to send fax, telex, sms or email as well. You need to claim this directly from the airline.

What shall I do if my flight only leaves the following day?

In the case of rebooking it can happen that you can only continue your journey the following day. This shouldn’t necessarily mean extra costs for you. The airline needs to provide accommodation in a hotel and also pay for the transfer to and from the hotel. Like this, apart from the time loss you don’t meet with any other loss. You need to ask for help related with accommodation from the airline.

What shall I do if the airline doesn’t offer any help?

It can happen that the airline does not offer any services (catering, help for communication, accommodation and transfer) because it does not have a branch at the given airport. In this case, you need to pay for all this yourself. However it doesn’t mean that you wont get reimbursed for it from the airline. It is very important that you keep all receipts of your expenses, because you will need these when you ask for a reimbursement. It’s good to bear in mind that the airline will only reimburse reasonable expenses.

Do I have rights for services in case of unusual circumstances (force major)?

Yes, you do. However you can not claim compensation in case of unusual circumstances (force major), but you are still entitled to get certain services as mentioned above.